alternative to baptism/christening..etc

[MadiMamacita]

nak- please excuse lack of caps, etc..

Hi- i've not posted on this board before, but it seemed like the most relevant place to post for this particular issue- feel free to suggest a better forum if you can think of one.
my baby is 2 mos old. his dad is peruvian and i am white/irish. both of us come from catholic backgrounds (i was baptized catholic but thats as far as that went) and DH's mother is quite religious but he is not. Neither of us identify as catholic or anything else, really, for that matter. I really like the quakers and have attended a few friends meetings. no conversion yet...
we are having a ceremony later this summer to introduce the baby to friends and family in MN, where I grew up- we live in OR. the ceremony will also serve to name my child's godparents. We have asked my best friend and my uncle to be the baby's "godparents". I guess we are using the term casually. The relationship I want to convey is more like a second parent- like if my son feels like he has some issue that he would be more comfortable speaking to someone else about, then he has his godparents for that. They are basically an extra support system for him. Not legal guardians. I am comfortable with calling them godparents. I am not comfortable calling the ceremony a baptism, christening, or anything else with religious undertones. the term blessing way was suggested to me, but my understanding is that a blessing way is performed during pregnancy, and I understand that it is seen as offensive to perform a blessing way if you are not part of a specific native american culture. any ideas on what we could call this shindig??

tia!

[Adele_Mommy]

I am Unitarian Universalist and we have child dedications. These ceremonies are about introducing the child to the congregation, dedicating ourselves to raising and loving the child and the congregation welcoming the child and dedicating themselves to supporting the parents. However, there are other religions that use the same term, dedication, to refer to a ceremony that dedicates a child to God, so you might not like this term either.

You could use "Naming Ceremony" or "Child Welcoming party".

[zoebird]

we just called ours the "baby's blessing."

ours was also very simple. everyone got around in a circle and did a reading, quote, or poem about the baby. one woman brought a drum and played it for him; my mom went off her rocker and talked about Jesus, and my FIL lectured us about how we should respect him and ask them for advice.

but aside from those two, it was a really nice little service. we had a good time.

[Magelet]

I think a baby naming might work well. It sounds like you want many of the sort of practical aspects of a baptism (presenting to friends and family, naming "godparents".) Wasn't a baptism also traditionally when the baby was named? So you are sort of taking the secular "potential name"? umm I might not have gotten enough sleep last night sorry if that doesn't make sense.

[MadiMamacita]

good suggestions. thanks!

[harmonyhobbit]

We had a welcoming for my first child. He was 4 months old. I live from my family and that was when they got to met him for the first time. We never officially named the "godparents". They were not at the welcoming.
I had planned to do a welcoming for my second child, but it didn't pan out. I plan to do at least 2 for my coming baby.